AFRICA/ANGOLA - Newly-elected President of Angolan Bishops' Conference says “politicians are ignoring the Church's appeals”

Luanda (Agenzia Fides) - "Our calls are not always welcome. When we make a complaint ... we do not always receive a satisfactory response," says Archbishop Gabriel Mbilingue, Archbishop of Lubango and newly elected President of CEAST (Bishops' Conference of Angola and Sao Tome), in his first statement as President of CEAST. In his speech, Bishop Mbilingue expressed the deep concern of the Bishops of Angola for the corruption and the concealing of serious problems of the country.
According to the President of CEAST (who was elected at the Plenary held in Luanda November 13 to 20, see Fides 23/11/2009), the positions of the Church have often been met with annoyance by the authorities. Bishop Mbilingue added that pretending not to see the problems is a common strategy of the politicians governing Angola.
Recalling the appeals made by the bishops in the past, Bishop Mbilingue said that "after months since their publication, everything has remained as before." The President of the Bishops' Conference notes, finally, that "many politicians of our country are Christians," but they have set and continue to set a bad example on how to govern their people. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 26/11/2009)